Margaret & Ryan in San Francisco, CA

Margaret and Ryan met their freshman year of college at the University of California Santa Barbara. They lived in the same dorm, and Ryan would stop by Margaret’s room so they could walk to class together. They were a couple by their second semester, but it took more than 10 years for them to get engaged. They dated throughout college, then five years long-distance while Margaret completed graduate school in New York. When she finished, she moved back near Ryan in San Francisco. After three years in the same state again, Ryan prepared to propose. The Bride Margaret Mello, 31, a media archivist The Groom Ryan Rouse, 30, a video game artist The Date August 15 His first plan fell through, so one weekend he tried to convince Margaret to call out of work the upcoming Monday. Monday morning rolled around and Margaret was adamant about going to work. As she was getting ready, Ryan told her he wanted to spend his life with her—and not dating forever, as they had joked. He meant married. That’s when Margaret finally decided to take the day off. They planned a summery wedding with an outdoorsy aesthetic.